Shallow Effect
by dressed in red
Summary: Pre-series. Sayuka isn't too pleased with her new assignment, but Zelman isn't exactly warming up to her either.
1. Remembrance

_A/N: Written for Kaye, who is the best Sayuka ever. _

**Shallow Effect**

_(emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness)_

_*****_

She'd been about ten years old when the news reports about them had started playing. They'd torn apart Hong Kong in its entirety, and it was almost as if the entire world had to shake its' head at the same time, clearing a fog. Many were still skeptical, and it was easy for many to ignore it (it had happened eighteen hundred miles away from where she was living in Yokohama, and many of her classmates' families just treated it as though it was a distant war between two small countries they didn't need to worry about). After all, if they accepted that one truth, what was to stop them from accepting all the other things that had once been fiction? Aliens, werewolves, evil spirits; how were they to know what was real and what wasn't, when every night for a week the television would flash images of destruction and chaos with the insistence that _vampires_ were the source of it?

Then the news reports tapered off, news crews banned out one by one. Reporters died just as fast as anyone else, if they were dumb enough to go in there. And then, after another week, everything was suddenly quiet in that part of the world. Everyone was assured that they had been annihilated. Searches were made, and no survivors were found. Vampires flashed in and out of reality for normal humans, like a candle that was lit for all of an hour before getting snuffed out. All that was left was a thin trail of smoke, the ruins of Hong Kong, and the small paragraph in history books that would mention the brief commotion made by another species before it went extinct.

They had never seemed so terrifying when she was ten. They were just like dogs that'd gotten rabies—that's how her parents explained it to her—and she had the strange notion in her head that perhaps not all of them were totally bad. Maybe they _meant_ well, but the fact that they were vampires overrode their common sense and made them do bad things. For months afterwords, she was a little disappointed that they'd all disappeared and that no one would ever be able to prove her right.

* * * * *

"Um, right here…" she mumbled, flipping her wallet around so that the irritable-looking woman behind the glass cover could look at her ID. The woman wrenched it out of her hands and she smothered the urge to tell her off for it. Whether or not the woman's work was boring and obnoxious, she wasn't the _only_ one having a bad day. She should really be a bit more considerate to people like herself, who'd just come off a long taxi ride after being suddenly shoved out of her house by government officials.

That was the price of being smart, she supposed. The exchange program had sounded like a brilliant idea at the time, but for some reason, they waited until right after the taxi ride to let her know that she would soon be living in a city that was crawling with vampires. She didn't even really have time to ponder the nature of these creatures, now that security was trying to quickly run her through the system that double—no, _tripled-checked_ everything. She supposed avoiding another Hong Kong was a good idea, but that didn't make it any better while it was happening to _her_.

"Shiromine Sayuka," the woman said blandly as she handed her ID back to her, "Welcome to the Special Zone."

Sayuka just took her wallet back, nodded, and continued on her way.

* * * * *

The tangle of bushes finally opened up into a paved clearing, which she stumbled into rather ungracefully. Her legs had pretty much given out on her. Her breathing was ragged and her lungs were burning, and the ground kept looking much closer than she thought it should. She wobbled to the fountain in the middle and took a seat on the stone rim, feeling like she might fall over. She took a couple more deep breaths and then silenced herself, listening for the sound of her followers.

She'd thought she would be done with running away after she'd moved, but apparently vampires were just as likely to attack a young woman as humans were. Maybe more so, given their nature… She didn't hear crashing in the trees behind her, so she allowed herself to start breathing again. What a terrible night this'd turned out to be. She made a vow to never do anything again when there wasn't a sun in the sky, and even then, she'd have to be cautious…

She looked up and behind her. The statue in the middle of the fountain was of an angel, pouring water from a large vase. Sayuka thought the white marble smile to be a small comfort. Perhaps it'd been through divine intervention that she'd found this place. She hadn't had much time to think about it while she was trying to escape, but what she'd originally figured was a park actually looked a bit too well-kept to be anything public. She vaguely recalled passing some fencing, so perhaps this was someone's private grounds? The vampires had slowed in their chase after she'd entered… So perhaps it was a zone meant to be free of Black Bloods?

Her hands were shaking. She could feel her heartbeat all the way down in her feet and was silently thankful that she'd decided to wear flats instead of heels that morning. She would have surely been caught if she was wearing anything else, since her skirt had been enough trouble as it was…

She became suddenly aware of footsteps approaching right behind her, and jumped when she realized that someone was standing next to her.

"I-I… I'm …" her words stumbled about as much as her footing, and she let out a small yelp when she realized that she was about to fall backwards. Faster than her mind could follow, a hand reached for her shoulder and there was a strong arm at her back, keeping her upright and adjusting her posture so that she was standing straight again.

"Whoa there," the other said, his voice clueing Sayuka in to the fact that it was a young man. He laughed. It wasn't quite like chuckling, or like giggling, but instead landed somewhere between the two. Very strange, a bit lovely, like music. She was quickly snapped out of this train of thought by the realization that some stranger's _arm_ was on her _back,_ and she stepped away from him.

With the bit of distance, she was surprised by the man's appearance. He made no move to follow her, instead shoving his hands in his pockets and standing as if he were just out for a walk or something of the casual sort. Black pants, a white shirt, and even in the dim moonlight she could see that his hair was a vibrant shade of red. His bangs fell over his eyes, so she couldn't rightly make them out. She got the feeling he was gazing at her, which made her feel awkward; as if she were being judged. He was about as tall as her, and his build made him look like a teenager, but the way he carried himself gave her the feeling that he was older than his appearance hinted at.

"I-I'm sorry if I've intruded…" Sayuka finally forced a sentence out, "But I was being chased—"

"What an odd place to be chased to," the man cut her off, tilting his head a little, "It's rare that my garden gets visitors of any sort." Then he looked off to the side, at where she'd crashed through the hedges, and Sayuka felt relieved that she was no longer being watched. She thought that, perhaps, she should make a run for it while he wasn't looking, but then he turned his head to observe her again.

"Like I said, I'm sorry for intruding, sir… I'll be leaving now, if that's…"

She wasn't sure what else to add to that sentence. She looked around for a moment until she realized she wasn't entirely sure which way was out. There were several stone paths, and she'd turned so many times... The man seemed to guess her confusion, since he pointed towards a path to his left.

"If you follow this one, and take a right every time, you'll be right back on the main street that passes by the front. I assume you'll be able to find your way back on your own after that."

He spoke in plain forms. Was Japanese not his native language, or was he intentionally speaking as though she was below him? She wondered just who this strange man was, but nodded her head in thanks anyway.

"Yes, I will be fine. Thank you, sir."

"Of course."

He absently brushed his hand through his hair, revealing more of his face. A blush slowly crept up her face as she realized the man was… _Very_ beautiful. In a moment of poetic thought she realized that he looked a lot like the statue of the angel, with pale skin and a small smile. She felt a shiver run down her spine when he looked at her once more, though, his eyes a brilliant, piercing red. No human could have eyes like that. She realized, with a sinking feeling, that he was one of _them._

Then he let his hair go, and his bangs fell over his eyes again, obscuring them. He smirked, clearly amused by her reaction. She tried to cover it up, frowning a little and walking forward anyway. He didn't stop her—instead, he turned around and started to walk leisurely in the other direction. He called out over his shoulder as they went their separate ways.

"The creatures following you won't try it again. Have a good night, Missy."

She turned to regard him, annoyed by the sudden playful name, but he turned down another path and was gone before she could comprehend how fast he must have been moving. She soon left the gardens quickly herself, appropriately eager to get home to where there'd be no more danger and no more vampires. True to what the strange red-head had said, she wasn't followed home.

* * * * *

"Sayuka-san! Our assignments have come in!"

The blonde one was always cheery, even at eight in the morning. Sayuka usually found it obnoxious, but the good news made her smile anyway. She and the girl with green streaks in her hair gathered around her. They were friends, of a sort, though Sayuka had trouble thinking about them outside of a work environment. They were genuinely nice people, but they just didn't seem the type she wanted to connect with.

They opened their envelopes quickly, and the girl with green streaks cheered with joy when she realized she'd gotten her preferred choice. She was older, so she got to pick. Sayuka and the blonde were very new, so they were stuck with whatever was handed to them. The blonde furrowed her brows in confusion, but eventually got that she was working for someone across town with a decent reputation. Sayuka could only stare at her name blankly, since she didn't recognize it. There was something in the way their name was written that bugged her—that letter, one of the ones that wasn't originally in the Japanese language.

"Ku… Rokku?"

She tried to pronounce it a couple times, and the others mimicked her pronunciation with looks of confusion on their faces. The girl with green streaks looked up at the ceiling, "I don't know who that is… Maybe they're new? But they would have at least been on the _list_…"

"Oh, no…" Sayuka shook her head for a moment, "I'm sorry. It's… Curo… Culo… Clock."

"Clock?" The blonde still tripped over the L, but the other girl's eyes widened in shocked realization. She turned to the blonde, and a similar look crossed over _her_ face when she _too_ realized just who they were talking about.

"…Who is it?" Sayuka asked hesitantly, that terrible sinking feeling returning.

They looked at her for a moment, until the girl with green streaks finally spoke.

"It's been nice knowing you."


	2. Revelations

So she'd been signed up to work for the son of the Great Warrior Asura, resident troublemaker and rumored psychopath. He was the Ancient Dark Hunter and Wielder of the War God's Flames, the leader of the anti-authoritarian Coven faction, and one of the leading powers behind the Special Zone. He was known both for his unearthly beauty and the fact that he went through more assistants than anyone else in the area. Some of the ones sent to him had never been seen again. Normally she would have just scoffed and assumed they'd moved out of town or something, but with a reputation like his… She wasn't so sure the reality was a very pleasant one.

She wished she could have said she'd had worse weeks… But that was pretty hard to top.

The pouring rain certainly wasn't improving her mood.

She was stuck in a café with no umbrella, waiting for weather to let up a little. She'd picked a spot by the window next to a table that had a chess-set on it, the pieces left halfway through a game by the seat's previous occupants. Her latte was sharing space with a couple of pawns, and she'd had a small pastry set aside for nibbling on in place of the lunch she'd never actually gotten to eat. She was too nervous, since tomorrow she was going to start working for the devil, if what other people had told her was true. Arms crossed, she ignored all the people around her the best she could, and for the most part, they ignored her as well.

This is why she was surprised when someone slid into the seat across from her. She felt what was becoming an all-too-familiar shiver down her spine as a pair of red-eyes peered back at her. His shirt had changed to black and white, and he was now wearing a black toque that kept his hair out of his face, but the smirk was the same and his face still reminded her of that angel.

It was the strange man from the gardens, sitting across from her, as if it was a completely normal and inconspicuous thing to do. He even had his own drink—a vampire with a cup of coffee. It was ridiculous.

"Fancy seeing you again, Missy," his eyes darted down to examine the chessboard, taking in where all the pieces were lined up, "I guess this means you made it home without a problem."

She was kind of hoping he hadn't remembered her, since it'd been a whole week since they'd run into each other. She was annoyed by his smug demeanor, and wanted to wipe the smirk off his face. It was like he was making fun of her, even if he hadn't said anything of the sort. She bit down a retort before a sudden realization hit her.

"What are you doing out during the—"

"Daytime? Keep your voice down, please."

His eyes hadn't moved from the board. Sayuka looked around. People seemed mostly oblivious to the vampire in the room, though a couple teenage girls in the corner were eyeing him as they would have eyed one of the cute, popular boys in school.

"Yes," she settled back into her chair and hunched up her shoulders defensively, "I thought Black Bloods couldn't walk about in the sun."

"Not true," he reached over and moved her drink off the board so that he could put the pieces back where they belonged, "That doesn't apply to all of us. There are two other vampires in this room besides me, but I wouldn't be surprised if they left soon."

Sayuka looked around the room again, but didn't see anyone out of the ordinary.

"Besides," he continued, "This cloud cover is making it as dark as a night with a full moon anyway."

"I don't see them…" Sayuka twisted around in her chair to get a better look, then noticed one man in the corner getting up and walking out of the café, followed shortly by who she'd assumed was his girlfriend. The woman glanced their way before she stepped out the door. Had they been it? They looked just like normal people, not like those monsters who'd chased her into this stranger's garden's a week back…

He seemed to read her mind again, though he still didn't bother to look up, "Did you think we'd be so obvious? Black Bloods have been hiding from Red Bloods for thousands of years. Just because we're legally living together doesn't mean we'll stop now." He gave a small sigh as she turned around, then, "White really sucked at chess. That's annoying…"

He picked up a white knight and knocked over a black rook with it, then set the knight in its place. The motion was elegant, and yet, Sayuka found it somehow aggressive. His eyes were fixed on her again, and she was starting to get nervous._ Surely_ he wouldn't try anything in a crowded café, right? Perhaps to further confuse her, he took a sip of his drink in a very non-threatening manner. Maybe he was just doing it to mess with her head, but what could he possibly gain from _that?_

"You're not much of a conversationalist, are you?" he asked, and she realized she'd been staring. She blushed again, fixing her gaze very firmly on the black tile between her heels. While she was looking, she noticed that he was wearing tennis shoes.

"Sorry."

"Then we'll start with something easy. What's your name?"

"You _assume_," Sayuka said, finally acting on a nerve that'd been struck, "That I would like to talk to you."

"I think you would, yes," he insisted, not missing a beat.

She looked up at him again, only to see him smiling invitingly, head resting on his hand, elbow propped up on the table. Her first instincts told her that he should buzz off and find someone else to bother, but then she made the mistake of double-thinking… _Maybe_ it wouldn't hurt to humor him.

"…Sayuka." She left out her family name, since he didn't really need to know.

"It's a pleasure, Sayuka," he said without the use of honorifics. Sayuka wondered if maybe he really _wasn't_ from Japan, since he didn't look native. Yet, he pronounced everything so well, his rude choices in language structure _had_ to be intentional.

He pointed at the board, "Black bishop takes white knight."

She looked down and saw that the bishop on her side certainly _could_ take the knight. On a whim, she moved the piece into the knight's square and placed the dislocated knight next to her drink.

"So what do you do?" He asked.

"I… I'm part of the program that presents the various Black Blood leaders throughout the Special Zone with different kinds of aid… Usually personal assistance, secretarial work…" She hadn't actually sat down and had a normal conversation with someone for a very long time, so speaking like that felt a little strange to her. She wasn't very fond of small talk, but she supposed answering questions wasn't so bad.

"I see…" the man nodded, moving his other knight forward, "Pawn to rook. Who are you assigned to?"

She found the appropriate move on the board and took his rook before answering, sounding less than thrilled, "Clock. I just received the orders yesterday."

He took a very long time to move his piece, but all the while, a small smirk was playing on his lips, as if he were fiddling with an idea. She assumed it had something to do with the game, since now that she'd had a chance to look it over, she realized that white really _was_ stuck in a tactical hole. It's almost as if it'd been set up for failure. The long silence made her wonder if, perhaps, she should say something more, but he moved his queen right before she worked up the readiness to talk again.

"I'd say it could be worse, but…" he trailed off, sounding amused, "I know the guy. I did some work for him once, before the Coven came about. You wouldn't think he's all that scary just by looking at him, but every once in a while he'd do something strange that made you think he's not all right in the head."

Sayuka soaked in this knowledge, both now scared that her fears were well-founded, and a little excited to have run into someone who could provide knowledge through first-hand experience.

Unprompted, she slowly reached for a black bishop and knocked out the man's other rook. The man laughed at this for some reason, a grin spreading across his face. She could see his incisors. After that, she wondered how she had ever missed them to begin with.

"What is he like?" she asked, using his obvious appeasement to her advantage, "As far as his personality goes?"

"Well… That's a good question, I'm not exactly sure," he spoke slowly, recalling his time spent with the mysterious Clock, "He was kind of weird. Obviously full of himself, but I suppose he can afford to be… But he also didn't seem like much of a people person. Sort of kept to himself a lot. I've heard some people talk about how he doesn't really get involved in anything the other leaders of the Special Zone do, he just sort of… Sits back and watches."

He moved a piece, and Sayuka moved her own piece soon after. They did this back and forth for three or four rounds before he continued with something more.

"But it's not like him to kill anything that _moves_… So you'll probably be alright, as long as you don't try anything stupid."

Sayuka sighed. They moved more pieces about. She vocalized an idle thought.

"I'd ask for a reassignment, but they wouldn't be able to get me another one for a few months…"

"Why don't you just go do something else for a while?" He inquired, taking out a pawn.

"I don't have anything else."

She'd moved her queen forward four squares before she realized that probably came out sounding rather pathetic. She looked up at his face for a reaction, but he was merely studying the board, seemingly unfazed by the odd comment.

It was, however, unfortunately true. This was the only field she was trained in. She wasn't going to be allowed to leave the Special Zone for a very long time… And even then, brainwashing might be involved, to protect the secret of the city. She didn't even think she could stay with any of her acquaintances from work if worse turned to worse, and she didn't really know anyone else there. She _needed_ this job, or else she'd be in trouble.

"Checkmate," he muttered, putting a bishop in place.

She looked down at the board for a final time. She noticed that she was boxed in, and was surprised to see that none of her other pieces could get to her king in time. She could, perhaps, shift a square to the left, but then it would be taken by the knight. She wasn't a master at chess, by any means, but it was still a shock to figure out that the man across from her had taken a failure of a board and, in just a few moves, won the game.

"With that," he said, getting up out of his chair, "I think I'd best be off. It'll be dry soon."

She glanced out the window and realized that the rain had stopped, and that flecks of blue sky had started to break through the clouds. She hadn't noticed how much time had passed. Her drink was cold by now, and she supposed his was too. He drew a package of cigarettes out of his pocket despite the no-smoking rule in the café, and pulled one out of the box with the meticulous tick of someone who'd done it a million times before.

"Thank you for playing with me, Sayuka," he smiled charmingly, his words carrying a sort of warmth that made her blush again. It was a simple thanks, but he made it sound like flattery, and the red eyes gazing at her added to the feeling she was the center of his attention, "You seem like a smart girl, I think you'll do fine with your assignment."

He put the cigarette in his mouth and turned towards the door. In a moment of confusion she stood up herself, the noise of her chair grinding against the floor enough to get him to turn his head back around. He'd walked in, acted so superior, and now he was leaving on good terms with her? Somehow, this wasn't adding up.

"Wait, sir… Who _are_ you?"

He looked a little surprised for a moment, as if he thought she would never ask, but that was quickly covered up by a mischievous grin.

"Most people just call me Zelman," he said, before turning again and walking towards the door.

Quite suddenly, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in her mind.

Zelman.

The man she was going to be working for was Zelman _Clock._

Zelman Clock, the Red-Eyed Murderer.

_Red-eyed._

He walked out the door, a small trail of smoke following behind him. She couldn't remember him ever taking out a lighter.

* * * * *

She passed by the angel every morning for a week. She thought it silly that she hadn't noticed the rather large mansion right behind her, even if it was dark at the time.

Suffice to say, she never really saw the Zelman from the café when she was there. This Zelman looked the same, yes, but he was far more rude and condescending. He never smiled at her. Sometimes he'd smirk and tell her off for doing something wrong… And it seemed like she did _everything_ wrong the first couple of days. She tried, she _really_ did, but she was either too late or too opinionated or spoke at the wrong time or picked up something she shouldn't have, or any other number of things. Zelman brushed her off half the time, completely ignoring any advice she tried to give him. She almost snapped at him once, but his trigger was as delicate as a hair and he'd managed to snap at her _first_.

Then there was the teasing. When he wasn't angry, he was bored, and would mess around with her just to make himself laugh. He was inconsiderate, had no sense of other people's feelings, and never tried to get anything done himself. Spoiled, selfish, and a complete brat, it was nearly impossible to tell that he was really eight-hundred years old.

"You work for _me_, not the other way around," he would say, "You'd do well to remember that, Sayuka."

She could never really forgive him for tricking her like that, but everything he'd said about himself was true. He didn't leave his mansion when he didn't have to, and had Sayuka go out for him on many occasions. Beautiful as he may have been, that didn't stop him from being frightening as well. He didn't even have to raise his voice; just a glare with those blood-red eyes of his would send Sayuka stammering through an apology.

An apology she didn't really think he deserved.

She hadn't seen the angel in his face since the café.

* * * * *

He was pretending to be a gentleman at the ball, which was irritating beyond measure. Sayuka had been quickly introduced to Cain (Zelman referred to him as Cain-kun, which made her realize that he really _was_ doing it just to be a prick) and Sei, the Dragon Lord. Cain looked irritably after Zelman as he dismissed himself to go dance with the dozens of girls at the party, and Sei apologized to Sayuka for Zelman's terrible behavior when Cain wasn't listening. Sayuka was a little glad that she wasn't the _only_ one that knew what he was like behind that charming smile and flirtatious dialogue, but she still said it was alright.

Sei smiled at that. He seemed like a very kind boy.

Then Sayuka waited on the sidelines. A few people asked her to dance, but she politely declined. She was more annoyed than she should have been by the fact that Zelman hadn't asked her to dance. He'd been so willing to chat with her in a café, but now that they were working together, he completely ignored her existence. She had to put up with him _every_ day, and yet it looked like the thought to ask her never even crossed his _mind_.

She deserved a dance more than any of the other girls. She told herself it wasn't jealousy, it was just _common sense_.

She lost sight of him after a while, since he pulled some girl off into a side-room. She tried to enjoy herself, talking to a few other people, but the night passed, people started to leave, and she figured it was time she and Zelman left as well. She couldn't find him in the ballroom, though. She asked around, but no one had really seen him for a while. Had he left without her? She wouldn't have put it past him. Or maybe he was still in that room… But he would have been in there for hours. What could he have been _doing_ in there? When she went to investigate, she found that the door wasn't locked. It was a silly mistake not to have knocked first, but she was too irritated over the night to hesitate.

There were three things she noticed before the shock set in.

The first was that Zelman _was_ there, pinning a girl to the wall, lips at her neck. The second was the woman, who seemed completely unaware of her surroundings—face flushed, mouth slightly parted, eyes glazed over, caught in a moment of ecstasy. The third was the blood all over the woman's neck, which she could smell even from her place in the doorway.

She gasped, and her hands flew to her mouth.

Zelman seemed generally unfazed by her interruption. For a moment the room was silent save for the woman's stifled, unsteady breathing. Then he stepped away from her completely, watching his victim crumple to the floor without anything to hold her up. Her head hit the floor with a nasty sound, but he observed gravity doing its work as calmly as one might observe birds. Sayuka saw him smudge a trickle of blood off the side of his mouth before he turned to her, silently observant. His face was blank, but his eyes spoke for the rest of him. He was angry with her; she could practically feel it coming off him in waves.

"I-I'm sorry, Zelman-sama, I…" Her instincts told her to run for it, but she couldn't. Her legs wouldn't move. She was stuck in a room with a dangerous predator, and she couldn't think of anything to get her out of it, "You… You disappeared, and…"

He was walking towards her. The door was still open behind them. She could hear people moving about, a ways off. Maybe if she yelled for help, they'd hear. All-too-suddenly that smirk was back on his face and he talked as if this was just a matter that could be laughed off.

"Relax, Sayuka. I'm not going to bite you too…" He was close now, and she gasped again when he was suddenly whispering against her neck, "Unless, of course, you'd _like_ me to."

She shuddered and pushed herself away from him. She felt the blood rush to her face in complete embarrassment and blurted out what first came to mind, hands bunching into fists.

"This isn't a _game! _There are _people_ outside, what if one of them were to have found you in here instead of me!?"

His smirk was still there, "I can do whatever I _please. _Who would they be to stop me? You take things much too seriously."

Then he reached forward and snatched her glasses right off her face. Sayuka tried to catch them, but he was much too quick, and the world went out to focus a second later. She blinked furiously, taking a step forward, not able to see much without her glasses.

"Give them back!" she shouted, "I can't see!"

"Follow the sound of my voice, then." He laughed again, but this time his laugh was cruel and without any warmth. He was the bully and she was just another plaything. She stumbled, disoriented and unable to tell which colored blob was him in the dim lighting. No hands reached out to catch her balance this time, but she crashed forward onto what she assumed was him anyway.

"Ha," he exclaimed, "C'mon, you have to try harder than _that_."

One of her hands curled around the fabric of his shirt so that she wouldn't fall over, and her other hand reached up towards where she thought he was holding her glasses up above her head. She only found his own hand, however, and after tangling their fingers together she realized that he wasn't actually holding them there.

"_Please_," she begged him, trying very hard to force back the tears that'd started forming in her eyes, "Give them back! You're being—"

She was cut off by the sudden feeling of something sliding onto her face, and she realized that he had put her glasses back on for her. He didn't look angry anymore, only amused. She felt his chest move when he spoke and noticed, much to her horror, that her fingers were laced with his above their heads and her hand was bunched with the fabric of his shirt over where his heart should have been beating.

"That's very forward of you," he said with a quiet laugh.

He thought this was _funny_.

She jumped away from him and repressed the sudden urge to _scream_. At him, at herself, at anything, really. She _hated_ this man. Everything about him was a lie, he was just _toying_ with everyone. She gritted her teeth and managed to look him in the eye, forcing out the only logical response she could think of.

"I'm leaving."

He just tilted his head, "Very well. Have a good night, Sayuka."

Then he walked right past her and back out into the main room. Apparently she wasn't worth a second glance. How long could she keep doing this? She felt the urge to cry again, but told herself it was stupid and that it wouldn't solve _anything_. A quick glance behind her made her aware that that _woman_ was still on the floor, probably knocked out from the fall.

She didn't feel inclined to help her as she left the room.


	3. Reparation

He'd finally done it. It'd been just _one_ comment too many.

She had to dash out of the room to keep herself from yelling at him. He didn't try to follow her, or even say a word against it. She just ran down the hallway and out the large double-doors, back out into those gardens. She didn't stop running until she found that fountain again, the angel still smiling faintly from her place in the center. In the full sunlight, she looked a little faker. A little more like the marble she was made of. Sayuka sat down next to it, bringing her knees up to her chest, back against the cold stone.

It was quiet there. She mulled her situation over. She finally started crying, tears streaming down her face, and even though she pinched her eyes closed and shook her head and told herself to cut it out, she just couldn't stop. Her hands were shaking and she had a terrible splitting headache. She wished she were back in her tiny little apartment, under the covers of her bed, instead of stuck out here, hiding behind a fountain.

No wonder some of the others never came back. Two weeks here, and Sayuka was beginning to wonder if they hadn't just killed themselves to get out of it.

She heard footsteps approaching. For a moment she thought it might have been Zelman, but they were much too loud, and there was more than one of them. She stood up, moving so that she would be behind the fountain, before four men in black coats appeared through one of the paths. Two of them were thin, and the other two were very well-built, the tallest of them leading. The tall one stopped halfway across the clearing upon noticing her. A smirk crossed his face, nothing short of sadistic, and the others turned to see what he was looking at.

"Well, well, if it isn't a little lost lamb," he sneered, his voice deep and raspy, "Where's the rest of your flock, little girl?"

She took a step back as he approached her, unsure of what to do. She recognized them as Coven members from their coats, and knew that they were all Black Bloods with morals on par with Zelman's. The tall one didn't even hesitate when he was close enough to reach out to her. He grabbed her chin harshly and pulled her closer, looking her over. She snarled and pushed him back in response, sending them both stumbling away from each other.

"Oh, aren't you a _feisty_ one," he only seemed entertained by Sayuka's willingness to fight back, and stepped closer again. She heard the others snickering behind him. She knew very well what happened to pretty girls who were found by the Coven, and she didn't want to be one of them. She took another step back, then another, but couldn't run. Something in her told her to stay—maybe that stupid faith that her silly marble angel would protect her like it did before. But it wouldn't work. She'd be dead in an hour, or worse.

"Come on now, why don't you just hold still like a _good_ little lamb, and we'll show you—"

His words were forced back down his throat and his face contorted in pain. There was someone behind him with their hand on the back of his neck, crushing it from behind. She knew without seeing him that it was Zelman, even though he hadn't been there a moment ago. The tall man was lifted an inch off the ground, and she heard Zelman's voice, quiet but commanding, filled with a rage she'd never heard from him before.

"You _won't_ touch her again."

The tall man couldn't respond before he was suddenly engulfed in flames. They reached up towards the sky, and Sayuka shielded her face with her hands against the sudden heat. She heard the burning vampire let out an agonized scream before his body turned to ash in Zelman's hand. The flames died down and she looked just in time to see the red glow from his eyes fade away. His fangs were bared and he looked absolutely _disgusted_ at the pile of ashes at his feet.

The other Coven vampires were shocked, eyes wide and mouths hanging open in plain fear. Zelman gingerly smashed the remains of a skull in with his shoe, and Sayuka heard the bone crack as if it were made of fragile glass.

"Go tell the others, this one is _mine_. If I catch any of you sniffing around my things again, you'll wish your death had been as quick as his."

Without a second to lose, they scrambled off back the way they'd come, obviously frightened for their lives. Sayuka stood there, terrified, feeling Zelman's murderous aura washing everything in a silent anger. She felt angry too; angry at herself for running off, angry for getting into this mess, angry that Zelman had to come and save her because she was so weak she wouldn't have been able to defend herself against Black Bloods. What kind of an assistant was she, the little Red Blood who couldn't do _anything_ right?

Zelman finally sighed, the aura disappearing quietly back to wherever he hid that dangerous intent of his. He turned and fixed his eyes on her, forcing eye contact.

"Are you alright?" he asked, face emotionless again.

It took a while for her to work up an answer. Was she alright?

"Y-Yes… I'll be… I'll…" her voice got caught in her throat. She would be fine. She wanted to tell him that she would be _fine_. Damn it, why couldn't she do it?

"Were you crying?"

She blinked, the sudden question catching her off guard. He looked curious, as if he didn't understand. She realized that her face and makeup were probably a mess, and in a fluster, tried to wipe off her cheeks and her eyes with her sleeve. She took her glasses off to get at the water building up in her eyes again. A pathetic sniffle escaped her when she did. She looked down at the floor, completely mortified with her behavior. She was practically having a breakdown in front of her boss. She'd never acted so far from professional in her entire life.

Zelman stepped towards her, and she was surprised to feel a warm hand on her cheek. Her face was tilted up towards his, and she saw him smiling at her.

"Oh, come now," he said, perhaps teasing her, "You're not going to be very useful if you just cry at everything."

His eyes held no contempt, and his features were softened. He was entrancingly beautiful, and the angel paled in comparison. There it was again, that porcelain skin and that small smile. She recognized this as the man she'd met in the garden and who she'd talked to in the café. Maybe it was a lie, and maybe he was only doing it to make her feel better, but... She felt, for the first time in weeks, like he was a friend. For the briefest of moments, she felt like she'd done something _right_.

She choked back a sob and rather unceremoniously buried her face in his shirt, clutching onto the fabric with her free hand. She felt him freeze up, surprised by the sudden outburst, but after a few moments he relaxed again. She felt a strong arm slip around her waist, and a hand brushed against the top of her head. He shushed her quietly, and they stood by the fountain for a while, her crying, him holding her there. Eventually she managed to calm down, and slowly detached from him. He did the same to her, taking a step back. She'd never noticed how warm he was before, and felt a little regretful that she'd let go.

"Better now?" he smirked a little, "Or are we going to stand out here in the sun for another hour?"

Sayuka gasped when she realized that Zelman was out of the house in broad daylight.

"Zelman-sama, what are you _doing_ out here? If it hurts, go back inside!"

She was shocked. Vampires didn't like sunlight, and that was a fact. Those Coven members were of the bloodline that could stand sunlight, but what about Zelman? She knew he _hated_ sunlight, and yet he'd come out of the house into it just to make sure she was okay.

"It's not _that_ bad… Just a headache." He shrugged, "Though I wouldn't mind being in the shade, all things considered…"

Sayuka let out a sigh of relief, and oddly enough, found herself laughing a little. She told herself afterwards that she was just giddy from the adrenaline rush and dehydration at the time. She nodded to herself and started to walk back up the stairs to the mansion, Zelman close behind her.

* * * * *

Over the next week, Zelman talked to her. He told her about how everything in the Special Zone worked, as well as how the Black Blood social world operated. She was surprised to hear that it was quite a bit different from the human world, and began to understand why he became angry with her for speaking out of line. She felt it was safe to ask questions, and he answered them to the best of his ability. There were a few concepts he said didn't translate over well, but he tried anyway. He recounted to her his past adventures and where he stood politically, and then explained where he wanted to go from there. Sayuka listened to everything, carefully logging the information into the back of her head so that she could act appropriately on it in the future.

They slowly sank back into their usual routines. Zelman would slack off all the time, and Sayuka would be stuck following him on whatever silly ideas he came up with, but he was much more patient with her. In return, she tried very hard to be as patient with him. Sometimes he would actually think about her suggestions before declining them, which was a small victory in itself, considering she'd thought she might never get his attention for more than five minutes at a time the week before.

Sometimes, if she did very well, he'd thank her and tell her what a good job she was doing. She strived towards those moments, wanting to see him smile at her again. Sometimes he'd call her aside from her work for a little while, just to chat with her, or once or twice, ask her for her opinion on something.

One morning, she woke up and realized she was actually looking forward to seeing him that day.

It was as if he had, with a few simple moves, taken a failure of a board and turned it into a winning arrangement.

He'd won her over.

* * * * *

She was stuck there overnight, but she didn't mind. The mansion was quiet at night. It was quiet during the day too, but then there were attendants running around, or people from the Coven stalking about, or summons to various places across town. At night there was just Zelman, and he was outside somewhere. He'd been near that fountain of his, looking up at the moon, but that was a few hours ago.

She sometimes wondered if he really liked it in the mansion, with everything so quiet all the time. She wondered if he ever got lonely. But then again, after eight-hundred years of avoiding people, she supposed being lonely wasn't much of a concern to him.

She finally finished the last stack of paperwork. It would have been easier if Zelman was working on them as well, but he'd been doing his own share, stuck in meetings with the other leaders all day. She figured she could at least give him a break and let him enjoy his garden for a while. When she was on her way out, she was surprised to look out the window and see that he was still out there, in the exact same place, still gazing up at the moon. She left the mansion and walked down the stairs, her approach not moving him in the slightest. His hands were in his pockets, as usual, and his face was blank again.

"Zelman-sama?" she spoke up from behind him, "Have you been out here all night?"

He finally stirred, eyes narrowing slightly. He changed his footing, but didn't move to look at her.

"Yeah."

"Are you…" She took another step towards him, meaning to ask if he was alright, but he suddenly shrugged his shoulders and turned about, animated for the first time in hours.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." He smirked a little. She took that to mean she didn't get to know what he was thinking about. She looked up at the moon herself, a little. It was full, and looked larger than usual. It must have been closer to the earth than it was the last time she'd bothered to really notice it.

Things were quiet, save for the gentle splashing of water. Sayuka voiced a stray question that came to mind.

"May I ask why you have that fountain?" she asked, no longer afraid to look him in the eyes when she asked it, "I noticed there was another one outside the Coven's mansion as well. Is there something special about them?"

Zelman hummed an inquisitive note and looked over at the fountain, almost as if he hadn't noticed it was there. He looked thoughtful for a moment before voicing his own thoughts.

"This one is the original. Venice, Italy, 1856. No real reason, I just thought it was pretty."

"I see…" She had to smile. She wasn't sure why she'd been expecting some deep and meaningful reason for it to be there. That wouldn't have seemed very much like Zelman at all. She was almost glad to hear that the angel in his garden was only there on a whim.

"The sun will be up soon, Zelman-sama… Perhaps you should call it a night?"

She gestured past herself back towards the mansion and he looked amused at her gesture.

"I suppose you're right. Are you offering to escort me back up the stairs?"

"I… If you would like," she replied, feeling like she was missing a joke. He didn't need to be escorted anywhere. Maybe he was just kidding with her. But he just looked like his usual mischievous self. It was hard to tell when he was joking and when he was entirely serious.

She walked with him back up the stairs and through the door. Out of nowhere, he took her hand, and pulled her further into the hallway.

"Where are we going..?" she tagged along with little resistance, the contact making her blush. He was so detached from other people most of the time that his sudden intimate actions never ceased to catch her off guard. She was led into one of the guest rooms and Zelman suddenly pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. She was flustered, unsure of what to say or do, completely shocked by his sudden display of affection.

"Z-Zelman-sama," she stammered, "W-What are you—"

Her words were cut short when she felt his lips against her neck. She tensed up, heartbeat quickening. The touch made her shudder, but she couldn't find it within herself to try to push him away this time.

He kissed her skin, very lightly, and she felt like melting. She tried to say something else, but words were practically lost to her. She thought about what he would do, and it scared her… But she'd been told what it was supposed to _feel_ like, and a small part of her, that _illogical_ part of her that told her to move a chess piece forward and not to run when she'd encountered the Coven… It told her to stay. It told her she would be alright. Her trust in Zelman assured her that he wouldn't let anything terrible happen to her.

He moved, bringing his face up to hers. He gazed at her for a long time, peering into her eyes as if searching for something. She looked into his eyes as well, seeing the colors clearly despite the darkness. His eyes really were beautiful, haunting. Full of both life and death, and a sort of energy that couldn't be tamed. She came to understand, through those eyes, what a vampire truly was.

"Will you let me bite you?" he said softly, as if there was something in the moment that shouldn't have been disturbed. She didn't know what to say. She was lost in those beautiful eyes of his, and in the warmth of his body, and words weren't something she felt she could find at the moment.

She heard him whisper her name and saw him lean forward to trace small kisses down her jaw line. She moved her head instinctively to allow him whatever he liked. If he would enjoy it, she would too. That was all she had to know.

"Yes…" came her very small voice, barely a sound, "Please."

He took the words immediately and she felt his lips on her neck again. Her hand gripped his shirt and she closed her eyes, hoping it wouldn't hurt. She felt teeth brush past her skin and let out a gasp of pain when they sank into her neck, a sharp electric sensation shooting up and down her spine.

She found it hard to not make any noise as that strange feeling turned to pleasure, spreading from her neck to the rest of her body. It was warmth, like fire, seeping through every inch of her. Even the thundering of her heart was hard to notice, as the only thing she could register was the euphoric bliss and the presence of Zelman around her, within her. This was his power, his warmth, his _being_. She felt him hold her closer and the touch was entirely too much for her; she arched back and a ragged sound escaped from her throat and she thought she felt his grip tighten on her shoulder but couldn't be sure. He was all around her and she never wanted to feel any differently.

All too suddenly, the presence evaporated and she felt Zelman move away from her neck. His grip loosened and she leaned limply against him, unable to stand. She was shaking violently and her heart was racing, and there wasn't enough air between them. She felt dizzy, the last of the effects still taking effect on her. She felt herself being lifted up and watched through a haze as the room flipped sideways. She was dropped on something soft and comfortable, and felt Zelman's weight next to her.

Her mind was flooded with a mirage of images. She felt like there wasn't anything left of Sayuka, there was only Zelman and his thoughts. She could still taste the blood in her mouth, and felt him brush her bangs away from her face and regard her with a sort of charmed curiosity. He thought that she did well, but she didn't know why she knew he'd thought that. His voice came to her clearly amid the mess of thoughts in old languages she found herself able to comprehend.

"You can stay here until morning," something was moved away from her face and her vision blurred, "Have a good night, Sayuka."

He left the room, but his presence was still there, in her mind. She left with him, in a sense, felt him move about and wander. She listened to his thoughts as they mulled about, a sort of understanding beginning to reach her about what kind of a person he was. They were like a lullaby, drifting about and making beautiful sounds.

She too, began to drift, her own mind lost amidst his. Her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.

* * * * *

The next day, Zelman told her that no one had ever actually lasted a whole month before.

He said he was impressed.

From then on, she always laughed whenever the blond girl or the girl with green streaks would say they were surprised to see her still alive.


End file.
